Press Contact

UNH Information

Editors/News Directors:
UNH Professor Barry Keim is available for comment at 603-862-3136. He is
in his office today, Jan. 11, will be out Jan. 14 and 15, and will return on
Jan. 16.

DURHAM, N.H. -- 2001 was a year of weather extremes, says New Hampshire state
climatologist Barry Keim.

Keim, associate professor in the geography department and in UNH's Institute for
the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space says the year was marked by contrasts --
record-breaking snowfalls, unusually warm temperatures, and extreme drought.

The following is Keim's list of the five top New Hampshire weather events of 2001,
in chronological order:

Snowstorm of March 6-7. Forty inches in Nottingham; 36 inches in Dover; 34
inches in Hampton; and 32 inches in Durham. In Durham, where a long-term record
has been maintained since 1926, this storm broke the all-time record snowfall event
of 26 inches recorded on Feb. 24-26. 1 969.

"Nothing unusual about this storm," says Keim. "It was a classic Nor'easter where
we took the brunt of the storm. The media actually portrayed the storm as a bust,
because it was predicted to slam the entire East Coast, but instead the heavy snow
was deflected north into southern New Hampshire, Vermont and upstate New York."

Keim adds that snowstorms during March can be particularly strong because sea
surface temperatures are warming and weather systems carry more moisture. "But
you still have cold air coming down from Canada. When the two air masses merge,
you can get really big snow falls."

Snowstorm of March 11. Although this storm only produced about a foot of
snow in southern New Hampshire, it fell on an already deep snowpack from the lack
of any winter thawing, and, combined with the storm of March 6-7, produced some
of the deepest snow depths recorded in southern N.H. in many decades.

"Our diligent weather observer in Greenland noted that he had a snowpack depth of
40 inches on the ground, which was the deepest he had ever recorded in about 25
years of taking observations," says Keim.

Heatwave of August 6-10. Some of the hottest temperatures experienced in the
Granite State in years were recorded during this four- to five-day period when
temperatures soared into the 90s nearly every day, and even reached into the upper
90s. On Aug. 9, afternoon temperatures reached 99 at Nashua, 99 at Durham, 98 at
Concord, 97 at Keene, 95 at Whitefield and 93 at Berlin.

Drought. The lack of rain during the entire year has caused many problems, from
wells running dry to hampering the ski industry. For the state, 2001 was the third
driest year on record, dating back to 1895. April was particularly dry, followed by an
extensive dry period statewide from Mid-July through December. During this five to
six month period, precipitation was only about half of what would be considered
normal.

"By years end, the state was in the second worst drought of the past century,
according to the Palmer Drought Severity Index, bowing only to the drought of
1965," says Keim. "Further-more, these are the worst drought conditions ever
experienced at this point in the year, wreaking havoc on the ski industry which has
not had much snow and needs water to produce it artificially."

Mild December. Statewide, New Hampshire just experienced the third warmest
December on record, since record keeping began in 1895. Daily records were broken
all over state on Dec. 1, 5 and 6, when temperatures soared into the upper 60s, and
even reached into the 70s at many locations in southern N.H. on the 6th.